Arizona Cardinals assistants offer experience for players, coaches

CARDINALS CAMP DETAILSWhen: The normal time for practices open to the public at University of Phoenix Stadium will be 2-4:30 p.m.CLICK HERE FOR CAMP SCHEDULEParking: Parking and admission are free. Parking lots are open on the east side of the stadium (Green and Gray) and will open each practice day at 12:30 p.m. Use the Green entry off 91st Avenue. For Friday-Sunday practices, additional lots on the West (Orange) side of the stadium also will be available.Stadium entry: Enter through Gate 3 on the east side of the stadium beginning at 1:30 p.m. Fans can also enter through the team store at the north end near Gate 2. For Friday-Sunday practices entry is also possible at Gate 1 on the west side of the building. All fans will be subject to screening, including an inspection of all items brought inside the stadium.Seating: Open seating for fans will be on the east side of the stadium in the lower level. For Friday-Sunday practices, additional lower-bowl seating will be provided on the west side of the stadium. In addition, the south bridge will also be accessible as a vantage point.Also: Players will sign autographs along the lower-field walls for a limited time before leaving the field. ... food and beverage concession stands will be open throughout the stadium.

By Kent Somersazcentral sports Sat Aug 3, 2013 3:52 PM

When Cardinals coach Bruce Arians assembled his staff earlier this year, one goal was to provide young coaches a chance to prove themselves in the NFL.

But Arians wanted experience, too, and through a mixture of planning and serendipity, was able to get it.

Tom Moore, assistant head coach for offense, is 74 and in his 35th NFL season. Tom Pratt, pass rush specialist, is 78 and coached in Super Bowls I and IV. Larry Zierlein, assistant offensive line coach, is 68, served as Marine in Vietnam and is in his 39th season of coaching.

“Tom Moore, Tom Pratt and Larry Zierlein have forgotten more football than these young guys know,” Arians said. “I think the country, as a whole, has forgotten that people 60 to 75 can contribute. Why discriminate on age?

“Plus,” said Arians, who is 60, “I want to feel young on the staff. That’s the main reason.”

Around the team’s Tempe facility, there have been plenty of jokes made at the expense of the trio of, uh, experienced coaches.

Things like the team’s handicap parking spots now being occupied. Or the need for nap times to be included in the schedule, etc.

“Every now and then he (Zierlein) will let out this ancient yawn, like you ain’t heard before,” offensive tackle Bobby Massie said.

Truth is, all three coaches are energetic and healthy. They found that retirement didn’t suit them; coaching football did.

“Retirement is overrated,” Pratt said. “It really is. When I first retired, I said ‘All I’m going to do is play golf. I’m going to sit back and relax.’ That lasted maybe less than a month. I said, ‘Man oh man, I’ve got to find something to do.’ ”

So he coached in college a little, then he was a consultant to football teams in Japan. And he trained college players, helping them prepare for the draft.

When Arians called with a job offer, Pratt didn’t hesitate.

“Nobody has more energy than Tom Pratt,” Arians said. “When you’re going over to Japan and coaching at 74, you got passion for the game. That never changes, the knowledge and the passion.”

As pass rush specialist, Pratt works with defensive ends, outside linebackers and anyone else called upon to put pressure on the quarterback. In his career, he’s worked greats such as Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Derrick Thomas and Warren Sapp, all Hall of Famers.

The challenge, he said, is determining the talents of players and adjusting accordingly.

“All players are different,” he said. “You look at John Abraham (Cardinals defensive end), he is just as smooth as silk. Then you try to pass that on to the next guy but he doesn’t run as fast. It’s like, ‘Well, I tried that but it didn’t work.’ ”

But Pratt does see things in former players that will help current ones. Defensive end Calais Campbell, for instance, reminds Pratt of former Chiefs and Broncos end Neil Smith because both have long arms.

So Pratt gave Campbell a video of Smith rushing passers. That hit home with Campbell, who is from Denver and grew up watching Smith.

Campbell’s post-sack celebration, the baseball swing, was taken from Smith.

Campbell might borrow other useful things from Smith, such as the way Smith “would put his arms on people and just run around them, using his extension,” Campbell said.

Like Pratt, Zierlein dabbled in retirement for a couple of years. But it didn’t take. When Arians was hired in Arizona, Zierlein called Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin to promote someone else for the assistant offensive-line job.

In the course of the conversation, “I probably started begging him for me to get it,” Zierlein said.

When the conversation was over, Zierlein turned to his wife Marcia and asked, “What do you think?”

She was all for it.

“When you’ve been involved with coaching all those years, you don’t do anything else,” he said. “All of a sudden, you got free time and you’re trying to figure out, ‘What I am going to do?’

“I’m 68, you got some years left in you at that age.”

Moore entered semi-retirement in 2011 after spending 13 seasons as offensive coordinator and senior offensive assistant with the Colts. But Moore felt he had more coaching left in him, especially after undergoing knee replacement surgery.

“Don’t worry about my chronological age,” Moore said when he was hired, “because I feel like I’m about 50, to tell you the truth.”

In Moore, Arians has someone who “has been there, done it” to rely upon for advice from everything from two-minute drills to how hard he works players in practice.

Arians believes it’s not only the players who benefit from the three coaches’ experience, but also the other assistants. Moore has worked under Chuck Noll with the Steelers and coached Peyton Manning. Pratt worked under Hank Stram and Marty Schottenheimer. Zierlein coached with three other NFL teams.

“I watch the young guys just pound them for information,” Arians said.

The three assistants downplay the idea that young assistants are picking their brains.

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